CLEVELAND (WJW) — Brandon Chrostowski, the owner of EDWINS Restaurant in Cleveland, is an elite chef who uses his talent to help others.

“Food is more powerful than nourishment or business. It’s something greater out there,” shared Chrostowski.

Over the years, Chrostowski has helped others get a fresh start in life with a job at his shop.

“Someone who has had a past incarceration or trouble with the law, we take into our home,” Chrostowski said.

He also added to his mission of helping others in need, with a visit to Ukraine earlier this year. The goal is to cook as much food as possible for families most in need. 

“It was real because you had generators all the time. The traffic lights didn’t work. When lights went out, people turned their headlamps on and dinner would continue as normal,” Chrostowski said.

Now, Chrostowski is ready to leave home and enter back into harm’s way. This time, he’ll be in Israel for a week. His goal is the same as it was in Ukraine.

“This first question is why not? Your eyes and heart see what mine see. What is going on over there is wrong,” he said.

While in the Middle East, his daily schedule involves one thing. He said, “The idea is just to cook, cook, cook and you look up and it’s been a week.”

Chrostowski said he is joining a group of Israeli chefs, who started this movement in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 attack.

For him, this is not work, it’s what he was born to do.

“For me, I know how to use these hands and cook really well. I don’t fear what may happen, I know what will happen,”